OUR VELOCITY

{{Infobox Single
| Name = Our Velocity
| Cover = Release_ourvelocity.jpg
| Caption =
| Artist = Maxïmo Park
| from Album = Our Earthly Pleasures
| A-side = "Our Velocity"
| B-side = "Distance Makes"
"Mary O'Brien"
| Released = March 19, 2007
| Format = CD
| Recorded =
| Genre = Rock
| Length = 3:26
| Label = Warp Records
| Writer = Paul Smith
| Producer = Gil Norton
| Reviews = Planet Sound (9/10)
| Chart position =
★ #9 (UK)
| Last single = "I Want You To Stay"
(February 2006)
| This single = "'Our Velocity'"
(March 2007)
| Next single = "Books From Boxes"
(June 2007)
| Misc =
"'Our Velocity'" is the first single from ''Our Earthly Pleasures'', the second album from the band, Maxïmo Park. The single was released two weeks prior to the release of the album, on March 19, 2007.
The song, according to singer Paul Smith, was inspired by a piece of photography by Anglo-French artist Mathieu Ógan, of a twisting motorway. Smith stated "Our Velocity is a broadly political song about somebody fighting for their country and wondering just how they found themselves in such a godforsaken position in the first place." [1]
The video of the song features the band being multiplied in a white room while playing the song. It was directed by Nima Nourizadeh.
The song has been highly regarded and in VH1's "50 Greatest Songs of 2007 So Far" it placed at number 1.
The song reached Number 9 on 25th March 2007 on the UK Singles Chart and number 1 on the UK indie chart^[1] within a week of its physical release.
In August 2007, a segment of the song was used as the title music for the BBC coverage of the Reading and Leeds Festival.

Contents

Track listing

Lyrical References

B-Sides

External links

Track listing

★ CD:
# "Our Velocity"
# "Distance Makes"
# "Mary O'Brien"

★ 7" #1 (white vinyl):
# "Our Velocity"
# "Pride Before A Fall"

★ 7" #2 (red vinyl):
# "Our Velocity"
# "Robert Altman"

★ 1st Week Only Download:
# "Our Velocity" (Home Demo Version)
# "Our Velocity" (First Live Performance)

Lyrical References

The lyrics of the song are also seen to possibly reference to Paul Smith's home county of Teesside, with "I'm not a man, I'm a machine" possible referring to the over worked and underpaid workers in Teesside's industries. "I buy books I never read" could also be a reference as Paul had a love of public libraries when he was younger. "Beneath the concrete there's a sound / A muffled cry below the ground"
possibly referring to the anhydrite mines below Billingham, and "There is a poison in the air / A mix of chemicals and fear" could be referring to the chemical works in and around Billingham, or possibly about the chemical leaks from ICI Billingham. Paul Smith's father also worked as an industrial welder for ICI and numerous other Teesside industries. Another few lines in the song are suspected to be references to this fact.`

B-Sides

Mary O'Brien, the b-side featured on Our Velocity, is a biographical song about Dusty Springfield. Mary O'Brien being her real name, the song features lyrics about her throwing a tea-set down a stairway.
Another being about Robert Altman, the famous film director.

External links

★ Our Velocity Video

★ Biography